And Methodius went down in history as the creators of the Slavic alphabet. Thanks to their activities, we can now read, express our thoughts in writing. These are well-known historical figures. There is even a Cyril and Methodius short biography for children.
Worldly life of future saints
Two brothers were born in Thessaloniki. Their father is a soldier under the governor of the city. The years of life of Cyril and Methodius in a brief biography refer to the XIV century AD.
The elder brother Methodius was born in 815, Cyril, at the birth of Constantine, was born in 827. Methodius, at the birth of Michael, was originally even appointed to a princely place. But the vanity of the world tired the young man. He refused such a privilege and at the age of 37 took the tonsure.
From the very beginning, the younger brother Kirill consciously chose the spiritual path for himself. Thanks to his curiosity and phenomenal memory, he won the favor of others. Cyril was sent to Byzantium, where he was trained along with the emperor himself. Having thoroughly studied geometry, dialectics, arithmetic, astronomy, rhetoric and philosophy, he became interested in the study of languages. His noble origin allowed him to enter into an advantageous marriage and receive a high public position. But the young man decided to build his life differently. He got a job in the church of Hagia Sophia as a library keeper, and later became a teacher at the university. Often participated in philosophical debates. For his excellent oratorical skills and erudition, they began to call him the Philosopher. But worldly life is just part of a short biography of Cyril and Methodius, which quickly ended. A new story has begun.
The beginning of the spiritual path
Court life did not suit Cyril, and he went to his brother in the monastery. But he did not find the spiritual silence and solitude that he longed for so much. Cyril was a frequent participant in disputes concerning matters of faith. He knew the canons of Christianity very well and often defeated his opponents thanks to his intelligence and high knowledge.
Later, the emperor of Byzantium expressed a desire to bring the Khazars to the side of Christianity. Jews and Muslims have already begun to spread their religion on their territory. Cyril and Methodius were sent to enlighten the Khazar minds with Christian sermons. Their biography tells of an interesting case. On the way home, the brothers visited the city of Korsun. There they were able to obtain the relics of Saint Clement, the former Pope. After returning home, Cyril stayed in the capital, and Methodius went to the Polychrome Monastery, which was located near Mount Olympus, where he received the abbess.
Mission to Moravia
The biography of the brothers Cyril and Methodius is based on chronicle data. According to them, in 860, the ambassadors of the prince of Moravia Rostislav turned to the Byzantine emperor with a request to send preachers to praise Christianity. The emperor, without hesitation, entrusted an important task to Cyril and Methodius. Their biography tells about the complexity of the assignment. It consisted in the fact that German bishops had already begun their activities in Moravia, aggressively opposed to the activities of anyone else.
Arriving in Moravia, Cyril discovered that almost no one knows the Holy Scripture, since the service was performed in a language unknown to the people - Latin. Preachers from Germany were of the opinion that divine services could only be conducted in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, because it was in these languages that there were inscriptions on the cross where Christ was crucified. The Eastern clergy, on the other hand, recognized holding services in any language.
The main task of the future saints was the creation of their own alphabet. After writing their alphabet, they began to rewrite the scriptures into a language understandable to the people. But in order to conduct divine services, it was necessary not only to create your own letter, but also to teach the people to read and write.
The clergy of Moravia were wary of such innovations, and later began to oppose them. An important factor was not only spiritual life, but also political. Moravia was in fact subject to the jurisdiction of the Pope, and the spread of a new script and language was seen there as an attempt to seize power by the Byzantine emperor through the hands of preachers. At that time, Catholicism and Orthodoxy were still a single faith under the patronage of the Pope.
The vigorous activity of Cyril and Methodius aroused the indignation of the German bishops. Since Cyril always won in religious disputes, the German preachers wrote a complaint to Rome. To resolve this issue, Pope Nicholas I called on the brothers to come to him. Cyril and Methodius were forced to go on a long journey.
Creation of the alphabet
A complete biography of Cyril and Methodius is filled with references to the origin of their greatest creation. Cyril knew the Slavic language well and therefore began to create an alphabet for the Slavs. He was actively assisted by his older brother. The first alphabet was modeled after the Greek alphabet. The letters corresponded to the Greek ones, but had a different look, and Hebrew letters were taken for the characteristic Slavic sounds. This version of the alphabet was called Glagolitic, from the word "verb" - to speak. Another version of the alphabet is called Cyrillic.
The Glagolitic is a set of sticks and symbols that echo the Greek alphabet. Cyrillic is already a variant closer to the modern alphabet. It is generally believed that it was created by the followers of the saints. But the debate about the truth of this statement is still ongoing.
It is difficult to accurately establish the date of formation of the alphabet, since the original source has not reached us, there are only minor or rewritten letters.
Metamorphoses of the first alphabet
As soon as Cyril and Methodius finished working on the creation of the Slavic script, they began to translate a number of books for worship. In this they were helped by many students and followers. This is how the Slavic literary language appeared. Some words from it have survived to our times in the Bulgarian, Ukrainian and Russian languages. The early version became the basis of the alphabet of all Eastern Slavs, but the later version was not forgotten either. It is now used in church books.
Initially, Cyrillic letters were written separately from each other and were called charter (charter letter), which eventually became a semi-charter. When the original letters changed, cursive replaced the semi-ustav. Since the 18th century, during the reign of Peter I, some of the letters were excluded from the Cyrillic alphabet and called it the Russian civil alphabet.
Cyril and Methodius in Rome
After the ups and downs with the German bishops, Cyril and Methodius were summoned to the court before the Pope. Going to the meeting, the brothers took with them the relics of St. Clement, previously brought from Korsun. But an unforeseen circumstance happened: Nicholas I died before the arrival of the future saints. They were met by his successor Adrian II. A whole delegation was sent outside the city to meet the brothers and the holy relics. As a result, the Pope gave his consent to holding divine services in the Slavic language.
During the trip, Kirill became weak and did not feel well. He fell ill from illness and, foreseeing a speedy death, asked his older brother to continue their common work. He accepted the schema, changing the worldly name Constantine to the spiritual Cyril. His elder brother had to return from Rome alone.
Methodius without Cyril
As promised, Methodius continued his activities. Pope Adrian II proclaimed Methodius a bishop. He was allowed to lead the service in the Slavic language, but on the condition that he would start the service in Latin or Greek.
Upon returning home, Methodius took several students and set about translating the Old Testament into Slavonic. He opened church schools and enlightened young, fragile minds in matters of Orthodoxy. The population increasingly abandoned parishes where services were conducted in Latin, and went over to the side of Methodius. This period is one of the brightest episodes in the biography of Cyril and Methodius.
The sad fate of the followers
With the gradual growth of the authority of the German feudal lords and the change of power in the lands of Moravia, mass persecution of Methodius and his followers began. In 870, he was detained for "uncontrolled arbitrariness." Along with him, his associates are also arrested.
They were imprisoned for six months until they were put on trial. As a result of lengthy disputes, Methodius was defrocked and imprisoned in a monastery. Only when he got to Rome, he was able to refute the empty accusations and regain the rank of archbishop. He continued his educational activities until his death in 885.
After his death, a ban was immediately issued on holding services in the Slavic language. His disciples and followers were waiting for death or slavery.
Despite all the difficulties, the brothers' life's work flourished with greater vigor. Thanks to them, many peoples acquired their own written language. And for all the trials that the brothers had to endure, they were canonized - canonized as saints. We know them as Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius. Everyone should know and honor the biography of Saints Cyril and Methodius as a tribute to their work.
Kostin Pavel 3 class
May 24 is the day of Slavic culture and writing. Cyril and Methodius are considered the founders of Slavic writing. The work of a 3rd grade student, dedicated to the founders of Slavic writing.
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Kostin Pavel, 3rd grade
Cyril and Methodius - the founders of Slavic writing
Celebrated Slavic writing and culture. The year of birth (creation) of the Slavic
brothers Cyril (before becoming a monk Constantine) and Methodius.
Cyril (years of life - about 827-869) and his older brother Methodius (about 825-885)
were born in the Greek city of Thessalonica (now Thessaloniki). Father named Leo
famous Greek official. About the mother in one of the later sources it is said,
that she was originally a Slav named Maria. And although, presumably, the family spoke
Greek, Slavic words, the music of the language, the brothers listened to in the house from childhood. Yes and no
only in the house. There were many Slavic merchants in the shopping districts of Thessalonica. Many
Slavs settled in Greece several centuries before the birth of the brothers. Not without reason for many years
later, sending the brothers to Moravia at the request of the Slavic prince to send teachers,
who will teach church reading, singing and writing in their native Slavic language,
Emperor Michael said: "No one can do it better than you. Go
together with Abbot Methodius, since you are Thessalonians, and the Thessalonians all speak
pure Slavic" (beginning of 863).
Having been educated in his native city, Methodius served for ten years as a military leader in
one of the Slavic provinces of Byzantium. Constantine studied in the capital of the empire
Constantinople and showed a brilliant philological talent. He mastered perfectly
several languages, including Latin, Syriac and Hebrew. When Constantine
graduated from college, he was offered a very honorary position as a librarian at
patriarchal bookstore. At the same time he became the secretary of the patriarch. working
in the library (the best library in the world), he constantly replenished his knowledge by comparing
one language with another, Yuri Loshchits wrote in one of the magazines in the article "Prophetic Rumor".
Only having an ear for music, developing it, you can hear in an unfamiliar
Greek of someone else's speech separate sounds and sound combinations. Konstantin was not shy
is called looking into the mouth of the speaker in order to figure out exactly what position
lips, teeth and tongue of the interlocutor, a sound escapes from his mouth, outlandish for
Greek hearing. Such outlandish unusual seemed to the Greeks the sounds "z", "zh","sh",
"u" and others. We, the Russian people, and those for whom the Russian language is native, it seems funny,
when these and other sounds are hardly pronounced by foreigners. Sounds in Slavic speech
turned out to be much more than in Greek (later the brothers had to
create 14 more letters than in the Greek alphabet). Cyril was able to hear
sounds of Slavic speech, isolate them from a smooth, coherent flow and create them for these
sounds signs-letters.
When we talk about the creation of the Slavic alphabet by the brothers Cyril and Metholius, then
name the youngest first. So it was during the life of both. Methodius himself said:
"He served, like a slave, his younger brother, obeying him." The younger brother was brilliant
a philologist, as we would say now, a brilliant polyglot. He had many times
engage in scientific disputes, and not only scientific ones. At the new business of creating writing
numerous Slavic people found many enemies (in Moravia and Pannonia -
on the lands of modern Hungary, the former Yugoslavia, Austria). After the death of the brothers
about 200 of their students were sold into slavery, and their closest and most capable
associates are thrown into prison.
The tragic personal fates of the disciples of Cyril and Methodius did not stop
the spread of Slavic writing from one Slavic people to another. From
Moravia and Pannonia, she moved to Bulgaria, and in the X century, after the adoption
Christianity, and in ancient Russia.
What was the Slavic alphabet? This needs to be told in more detail.
since this writing was used in Russia until the 18th century. Under Peter I and
then a few more times in the 18th century. the alphabetical composition changed, i.e. number of letters and
graphics (writing). The last reform of the Cyrillic alphabet took place in 1917-1918. Total was
12 letters were excluded, and two new ones were introduced - "i" and "ё". Looking at the letter names
Cyrillic alphabet, the origin of the word "alphabet" itself will become clear: a - az, b - beeches. Like
the name of the alphabet, the name "alphabet" also occurred - from the first two letters of the Greek
Alpha and Vita languages.
All Slavs from the Baltic spoke, wrote, created literature in the "Slovenian language"
to the Aegean Sea, from the Alps to the Volga. For six long centuries, until the 15th century,
only three ancient languages (Slavic, Greek, Latin) were accepted in the world
as the main languages of international communication. And now it's a matter of honor for millions of people
Speakers of the Slavic languages - to protect, preserve and develop it.
How did distant ancestors learn to read and write?
Education at the school was individual, and each teacher had no more than 6-8
students. The teaching methods were very imperfect. Folk proverbs
retained the memory of the difficulty of learning the alphabet: "Az, beeches, lead them to scare how
bears", "They teach the alphabet, they shout at the whole hut."
Learning the Old Slavonic alphabet was not an easy task. No sounds were uttered, but
the names of the letters are complex in themselves. Having memorized the alphabet, they proceeded to syllables, or
warehouses, first of two letters: "beeches", "az" - the student called the names of the letters, and
then pronounced the syllable "ba"; for the syllable "in" it was necessary to name "lead", "he". Then
they taught syllables of three letters: "beeches", "rtsy", "az" - "bra", etc.
The complex names of the letters were not taken, as they say, "from the ceiling." Every title
carried great meaning and moral content. The literate person absorbed
moral concepts of great depth, worked out for himself a line of conduct in
life, received concepts of goodness and morality. I can’t even believe it: well, letters and letters.
But no. When a person who was learning to read and write repeated after the teacher "az, beeches, lead," he
said a whole phrase: "I know the letters." Then followed d, d, e - "Verb good
is ". In the enumeration of these letters in a row, there is a commandment to man, so that in vain
I didn’t throw words, I didn’t fornicate, because “the Word is good.”
Let's see what letters like r meant, s, t. They were called "Rtsy the word is firm", i.e.
e. "Speak the word clearly", "be responsible for your words." It would be good for many of us
learn both in pronunciation and in responsibility for the spoken word.
After memorizing syllables, reading began. The second proverb reminds of order
work: the teacher pronounced the letters, and the students in chorus, in a singsong voice, repeated them until
until you remember.
Literature:
Big Encyclopedia of Primary School
Excerpts from the historical sources "The Tale of Bygone Years" and "The Life of Constantine-Cyril
The creators of the Slavic alphabet Methodius and Cyril.
At the end of 862, the prince of Great Moravia (the state of the Western Slavs) Rostislav turned to the Byzantine emperor Michael with a request to send preachers to Moravia who could spread Christianity in the Slavic language (sermons in those parts were read in Latin, unfamiliar and incomprehensible to the people).
Emperor Michael sent the Greeks to Moravia - the scientist Constantine the Philosopher (the name Cyril Constantine received when he became a monk in 869, and with this name he went down in history) and his older brother Methodius.
The choice was not random. The brothers Constantine and Methodius were born in Thessalonica (in Greek, Thessaloniki) in the family of a military commander, received a good education. Cyril studied in Constantinople at the court of the Byzantine emperor Michael III, knew Greek, Slavic, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic languages well, taught philosophy, for which he received the nickname Philosopher. Methodius was in military service, then for several years he ruled one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs; subsequently retired to a monastery.
In 860, the brothers had already made a trip to the Khazars for missionary and diplomatic purposes.
In order to be able to preach Christianity in the Slavic language, it was necessary to make a translation of the Holy Scripture into the Slavic language; however, the alphabet capable of conveying Slavic speech did not exist at that moment.
Constantine set about creating the Slavic alphabet. Methodius, who also knew the Slavic language well, helped him in his work, since a lot of Slavs lived in Thessalonica (the city was considered half-Greek, half-Slavic). In 863, the Slavic alphabet was created (the Slavic alphabet existed in two versions: the Glagolitic alphabet - from the verb - “speech” and the Cyrillic alphabet; scientists still do not have a consensus which of these two options was created by Cyril). With the help of Methodius, a number of liturgical books were translated from Greek into Slavonic. The Slavs got the opportunity to read and write in their own language. The Slavs not only had their own, Slavic, alphabet, but also the first Slavic literary language was born, many of whose words still live in Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic languages.
The mystery of the Slavic alphabet
The Old Slavonic alphabet got its name from a combination of two letters “az” and “beeches”, which denoted the first letters of the alphabet A and B. An interesting fact is that the Old Slavonic alphabet was graffiti, i.e. graffiti scrawled on the walls. The first Old Slavonic letters appeared on the walls of churches in Pereslavl around the 9th century. And by the 11th century, ancient graffiti appeared in St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. It was on these walls that the letters of the alphabet were indicated in several styles, and below was the interpretation of the letter-word.
In 1574, an important event took place, which contributed to a new round in the development of Slavic writing. The first printed ABC appeared in Lvov, which was seen by Ivan Fedorov, the man who printed it.
ABC structure
If you look back, you will see that Cyril and Methodius created not just an alphabet, they opened a new path for the Slavic people, leading to the perfection of man on earth and the triumph of a new faith. If you look at historical events, the difference between which is only 125 years, you will understand that in fact the path of establishing Christianity in our land is directly related to the creation of the Slavic alphabet. Indeed, literally in one century, the Slavic people eradicated archaic cults and adopted a new faith. The connection between the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet and the adoption of Christianity today is beyond doubt. The Cyrillic alphabet was created in 863, and already in 988, Prince Vladimir officially announced the introduction of Christianity and the overthrow of primitive cults.
Studying the Old Slavonic alphabet, many scientists come to the conclusion that in fact the first "ABC" is a cryptography that has a deep religious and philosophical meaning, and most importantly, that it is built in such a way that it is a complex logical and mathematical organism. In addition, comparing many finds, the researchers came to the conclusion that the first Slavic alphabet was created as a holistic invention, and not as a creation that was created in parts by adding new letter forms. It is also interesting that most of the letters of the Old Slavonic alphabet are letters-numbers. Moreover, if you look at the entire alphabet, you will see that it can be conditionally divided into two parts, which are fundamentally different from each other. In this case, we will conditionally call the first half of the alphabet the “higher” part, and the second “lower”. The upper part includes letters from A to F, i.e. from "az" to "fert" and is a list of letter-words that carry a meaning understandable to the Slav. The lower part of the alphabet begins with the letter "sha" and ends with "izhitsa". The letters of the lower part of the Old Slavonic alphabet do not have a numerical value, unlike the letters of the higher part, and carry a negative connotation.
In order to understand the secret writing of the Slavic alphabet, it is necessary not only to skim through it, but to read each letter-word. After all, each letter-word contains a semantic core that Konstantin put into it.
Literal truth, the highest part of the alphabet
Az- this is the initial letter of the Slavic alphabet, which denotes the pronoun I. However, its root meaning is the word “originally”, “begin” or “beginning”, although in everyday life the Slavs most often used Az in the context of the pronoun. Nevertheless, in some Old Slavonic writings one can find Az, which meant “one”, for example, “I will go to Vladimir”. Or "starting from the basics" meant "starting from the beginning." Thus, with the beginning of the alphabet, the Slavs denoted the entire philosophical meaning of being, where without beginning there is no end, without darkness there is no light, and without good there is no evil. At the same time, the main emphasis in this is placed on the duality of the dispensation of the world. Actually, the alphabet itself is built on the principle of duality, where it is conditionally divided into two parts: the highest and the lowest, positive and negative, the part located at the beginning and the part that is at the end. In addition, do not forget that Az has a numerical value, which is expressed by the number 1. Among the ancient Slavs, the number 1 was the beginning of everything beautiful. Today, studying Slavic numerology, we can say that the Slavs, like other peoples, divided all numbers into even and odd. At the same time, odd numbers were the embodiment of everything positive, kind and bright. In turn, even numbers represented darkness and evil. At the same time, the unit was considered the beginning of all beginnings and was very revered by the Slavic tribes. From the point of view of erotic numerology, it is believed that 1 is a phallic symbol, from which the continuation of the family begins. This number has several synonyms: 1 is one, 1 is one, 1 is times.
Beeches(Beeches) - the second letter-word in the alphabet. It has no digital meaning, but it has no less deep philosophical meaning than Az. Beeches - means "to be", "will be" was most often used in turnovers in the future form. For example, "bodie" means "let it be", and "boudouche", as you probably already guessed, means "future, upcoming". In this word, our ancestors expressed the future as an inevitability that could be both good and rosy, or gloomy and terrible. It is still not known for certain why Bukam Constantine did not give a numerical value, but many scholars suggest that this is due to the duality of this letter. Indeed, by and large, it denotes the future, which each person imagines for himself in a rainbow light, but on the other hand, this word also denotes the inevitability of punishment for committed low deeds.
Lead- the most interesting letter of the Old Slavonic alphabet, which has a numerical value of 2. This letter has several meanings: to know, to know and to own. When Constantine put this meaning into Vedi, he meant secret knowledge, knowledge as the highest divine gift. If you add Az, Buki and Vedi into one phrase, you will get a phrase that means "I will know!". Thus, Constantine showed that a person who discovered the alphabet created by him would subsequently have some kind of knowledge. No less important is the numerical load of this letter. After all, 2 - two, two, a couple were not just numbers among the Slavs, they took an active part in magical rituals and in general were symbols of the duality of everything earthly and heavenly. The number 2 among the Slavs meant the unity of heaven and earth, the duality of human nature, good and evil, etc. In a word, the deuce was a symbol of the confrontation between the two sides, heavenly and earthly balance. Moreover, it is worth noting that the Slavs considered the deuce to be a devilish number and attributed to it a lot of negative properties, believing that it was the deuce that opens the number series of negative numbers that bring death to a person. That is why the birth of twins in Old Slavic families was considered a bad sign, which brought illness and misfortune to the family. In addition, among the Slavs, it was considered a bad sign to rock the cradle together, two people to dry themselves with one towel and generally perform any action together. Despite such a negative attitude towards the number 2, the Slavs recognized its magical power. So, for example, many rituals of exorcism were carried out with the help of two identical objects or with the participation of twins.
Having considered the upper part of the alphabet, one can state the fact that it is a secret message of Constantine to the descendants. "Where is it seen?" - you ask. And now you try to read all the letters, knowing their true meaning. If you take several subsequent letters, then phrases-edifications are added:
Lead + The verb means "lead the teaching";
Rtsy + Word + Firmly can be understood as the phrase "speak the true word";
Firmly + Ouk can be interpreted as "strengthen the law."
If you look closely at other letters, you can also find the secret script that Constantine the Philosopher left behind.
Have you ever wondered why the letters in the alphabet are in this order, and not some other? The order of the "higher" part of the Cyrillic letters can be considered from two positions.
Firstly, the fact that each letter-word is formed into a meaningful phrase with the next one may mean a non-random pattern that was invented to quickly memorize the alphabet.
Secondly, the Old Slavonic alphabet can be considered from the point of view of numbering. That is, each letter is also a number. Moreover, all letters-numbers are arranged in ascending order. So, the letter A - “az” corresponds to one, B - 2, G - 3, D - 4, E - 5, and so on up to ten. The letter K begins with tens, which are listed here in the same way as units: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 70, 80 and 100.
In addition, many scientists have noticed that the outlines of the letters of the "higher" part of the alphabet are graphically simple, beautiful and convenient. They perfectly suited cursive writing, and the person did not experience any difficulties in depicting these letters. And many philosophers see in the numerical arrangement of the alphabet the principle of the triad and spiritual harmony, which a person achieves, striving for goodness, light and truth.
Having studied the alphabet from the very beginning, we can come to the conclusion that Constantine left his descendants the main value - a creation that encourages us to strive for self-improvement, learning, wisdom and love, remembering the dark paths of malice, envy and enmity.
Now, opening the alphabet, you will know that the creation that came into being thanks to the efforts of Constantine the Philosopher is not just a list of letters that begin words that express our fear and indignation, love and tenderness, respect and delight.
The siblings Cyril and Methodius came from a pious family that lived in the Greek city of Thessalonica (in Macedonia). They were the children of the same governor, a Bulgarian Slav by birth. Saint Methodius was the eldest of the seven brothers, Saint Constantine (Cyril is his monastic name) was the youngest.
Saint Methodius at first served, like his father, in a military rank. The king, having learned about him as a good warrior, appointed him governor in one Slavic principality of Slavinia, which was under the Greek state. This happened at the special discretion of God and so that Methodius could better learn the Slavic language, as a future spiritual teacher and shepherd of the Slavs. Having been in the rank of governor for about 10 years and knowing the vanity of life, Methodius began to dispose his will to renounce everything earthly and direct his thoughts to the heavenly. Leaving the province and all the pleasures of the world, he became a monk on Mount Olympus.
And his brother Saint Constantine from his youth showed brilliant successes both in secular and in religious and moral education. He studied with the young emperor Michael with the best teachers of Constantinople, including Photius, the future patriarch of Constantinople. Having received a brilliant education, he perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages, he especially diligently studied the works of St. Gregory the Theologian, for which he received the title of Philosopher (wise). At the end of his teaching, Saint Constantine accepted the rank of priest and was appointed curator of the patriarchal library at the church of Saint Sophia. But, neglecting all the benefits of his position, he retired to one of the monasteries near the Black Sea. Almost by force, he was returned to Constantinople and appointed as a teacher of philosophy in the higher school of Constantinople. The wisdom and strength of faith of the still very young Constantine were so great that he managed to defeat the leader of the heretic iconoclasts, Aninius, in the debate.
Then Cyril retired to brother Methodius and for several years shared monastic deeds with him in a monastery on Olympus, where he first began to study the Slavic language. In the monasteries that were on the mountain, there were many Slavic monks from various neighboring countries, which is why Konstantin could have a permanent practice here for himself, which was especially important for him, since he, almost from childhood, spent all his time in the Greek environment. Soon the emperor summoned both holy brothers from the monastery and sent them to the Khazars for the gospel sermon. On the way, they stopped for some time in the city of Korsun, preparing for a sermon.
Here the holy brothers learned that the relics of the Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome, were in the sea, and miraculously found them.
In the same place in Korsun, Saint Constantine found a Gospel and a Psalter written in "Russian letters" and a man who spoke Russian, and began to learn from this man to read and speak his language. After that, the holy brothers went to the Khazars, where they won the debate with the Jews and Muslims, preaching the Gospel teaching.
Soon, ambassadors came to the emperor from the Moravian prince Rostislav, who was being oppressed by the German bishops, with a request to send teachers to Moravia who could preach in the native language of the Slavs. The emperor called Saint Constantine and said to him: "You must go there, for no one can do it better than you." Saint Constantine, with fasting and prayer, embarked on a new feat. With the help of his brother Saint Methodius and the disciples of Gorazd, Clement, Savva, Naum and Angelyar, he compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated into Slavonic the books without which Divine services could not be performed: the Gospel, the Psalter and selected services. Some chroniclers report that the first words written in the Slavic language were the words of the Apostle the Evangelist John: “In the beginning there was (there was) the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word.” This was in 863.
After the completion of the translation, the holy brothers went to Moravia, where they were received with great honor and began to teach Divine Liturgy in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who celebrated divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they rebelled against the holy brothers and filed a complaint with Rome. In 867 St. Methodius and Constantine were summoned by Pope Nicholas I to Rome for trial to resolve this issue. Taking with them the relics of Saint Clement, Pope of Rome, Saints Constantine and Methodius set off for Rome. When they arrived in Rome, Nicholas I was no longer alive; his successor Adrian II, learning that they were carrying the relics of St. Clement, met them solemnly outside the city. The Pope of Rome approved Divine services in the Slavic language, and ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches and to celebrate the Liturgy in the Slavic language.
While in Rome, Saint Constantine, informed by the Lord in a miraculous vision of the approach of death, received the schema with the name Cyril. 50 days after the adoption of the schema, on February 14, 869, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril died at the age of 42. Before his death, he said to his brother: “You and I, like a friendly pair of oxen, led the same furrow; I am exhausted, but don’t you think to leave the labors of teaching and retire again to your mountain.” The Pope ordered the relics of St. Cyril to be placed in the church of St. Clement, where they began to perform miracles.
After the death of Saint Cyril, the pope, following the request of the Slavic prince Kocel, sent Saint Methodius to Pannonia, ordaining him archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia, to the ancient throne of the holy Apostle Anthrodin. At the same time, Methodius had to endure a lot of trouble from heterodox missionaries, but he continued to preach the Gospel among the Slavs and baptized the Czech prince Borivoi and his wife Lyudmila (Comm. 16 September), as well as one of the Polish princes.
In the last years of his life, Saint Methodius, with the help of two disciple-priests, translated into Slavonic the entire Old Testament, except for the Maccabees, as well as the Nomocanon (Canons of the Holy Fathers) and the patristic books (Paterik).
The saint predicted the day of his death and died on April 6, 885 at the age of about 60 years. The funeral service for the saint was performed in three languages - Slavic, Greek and Latin; he was buried in the cathedral church of Velehrad, the capital of Moravia.
Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius were canonized as saints in antiquity. In the Russian Orthodox Church, the memory of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Enlighteners of the Slavs has been honored since the 11th century. The oldest services to the saints that have come down to our time date back to the 13th century.
The solemn celebration of the memory of the holy primates Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius was established in the Russian Church in 1863.
In the icon-painting original, under May 11, it says: “Our venerable fathers Methodius and Constantine, named Cyril, Bishops of Moravia, teachers of Slovenia. Methodius is a likeness of an old man, gray hair, a beard of duty like Vlasiev, hierarchal robes and an omophorion, in the hands of the Gospel. Konstantin - monastic vestments and in the schema, in the hands of a book, and in it the Russian alphabet A, B, C, D, D and other words (letters) are written, all in a row ... ".
By decree of the Holy Synod (1885), the celebration of the memory of Slavic teachers was classified as an average church holiday. The same decree determined: in prayers on litia, according to the Gospel at Matins before the canon, on holidays, as well as in all prayers in which the ecumenical saints of the Russian Church are commemorated, to commemorate after the name of St. Methodius and Cyril, Slovenian teachers.
For Orthodox Russia, the celebration of Sts. The first teachers have a special meaning: “By them, having begun the Divine Liturgy and all church services in the language akin to us, Slovenia, and thus an inexhaustible well of water flowing into eternal life has been given to us.”
In the 9th century in Byzantium in the city of Thessalonica lived two brothers - Constantine and Methodius. They were smart, wise people, knew the Slavic language well.
At the request of the Slavic Prince Constantine, the Greek Tsar Michael sent brothers to the Slavs. The brothers Constantine and Methodius were supposed to tell the Slavs about the holy Christian books. Later, having become a monk, Constantine received the name Cyril.
The Slavs who lived in those days knew how to plow, mow, weave canvases, embroider them with patterns. But they didn't know how to read books and write letters.
The younger brother Cyril decided to write books understandable to the Slavs, but for this it was necessary to invent Slavic letters.
In a narrow monastery cell,
In four blank walls
About the land of ancient Russian
The story was written by a monk.
He wrote in winter and summer,
Illuminated by dim light.
He wrote from year to year
About our great people.
Cyril thought a lot, worked. And now the alphabet was ready. It had 44 letters. Some of them were taken from the Greek alphabet, and some were invented to convey the sounds of Slavic speech. So the Slavic peoples got their own written language - the alphabet, which is called Cyrillic.
Each letter in the ancient Slavic alphabet was special. The names of the letters reminded people of the words that should not be forgotten: “good”, “live”, “earth”, “people”.
The Thessalonica brothers are the pride of the entire Slavic world. The entire Slavic world is grateful to the brothers Cyril and Methodius for giving us the Slavic alphabet. This happened in 863. They also translated Greek books into Slavic, so that the Slavs had something to read.
Cyril and Methodius are often depicted walking along the road with books in their hands. A torch held high illuminates their path. 44 sister letters look at us from this ancient scroll.
The exceptional intellect of one and the stoic courage of the other - the qualities of two people who lived a very long time before us, turned into what we now write in their letters, and add up our picture of the world according to their grammar and rules.
Message
on the topic: "Cyril and Methodius - the first teachers of Slovenia."
2nd class students
MKOU "Secondary School No. 1"
G. Efremov
Dorokhova Ekaterina.